SANCT: an Urban Interfaith Monastery.
Interfaith is difficult to define; comprised of people seeking spiritual reconciliation, these communities are made up of believers and non-believers alike: Christians, Jews, Pagans, Buddhists, Atheists, Agnostics, Protestants, Muslims... Interfaith is about conversation between historically contradictory groups of people. Interfaith communities are fluid, flexible, adaptable. Often meeting in coffee shops, convention centers, other churches, an interfaith "church" is simply a relationship: the development of spiritual understanding through connection with others.
The task I set myself at the beginning of the project was to define and understand “interfaith” as a spiritual community and to explore the creation of meaningful, spiritual space without a reliance on icon or symbolic form.
Through my research and involvement in a local interfaith community, I have come to understand interfaith as the most intensely individualistic pursuit of truth; it attracts people who are "spiritual but not religious," confused, uncertain, or dissatisfied with organized religion. Testimony, not Testament, drives discussion. Beliefs are based on instinct, not prescription. Self-understanding is as crucial as community candidness. The purpose of Interfaith is the development of self through reflection and discussion. While this may not seem far off from most spiritual pursuits, interfaith communities are unique in their
emphasis on an individual’s definition of truth, equality of differing beliefs, and non-hierarchical inclusion.
So I began through program, compiling small spatial ideals of the places I personally felt most open, and sought unity amongst their contradictions and juxtapositions. At times the meaning of the program overcame the formal composition; at times the formal composition sacrificed programmatic clarity. But this struggle between meaning and image became symbolic of the larger discussion: what is non-iconic spiritual space?
Around midterm, I initiated a large-group discussion between members of a Pagan and Christian interfaith group to better understand the characteristics of pure spiritual space. Were there spaces or places that inspire your spirituality? Why? Was it light? Materials? Shadow? Nature? Ritual? Familiar symbolism? My findings were overwhelmingly in favor of my original instincts: a quiet garden, a grand light space with high windows, ceremonial procession, soft floors, and all the “creature comforts” of small homey space.
My proposal mimics the beauty and the oddities of interfaith as a concept: self reflective, yet supremely conscious of external conditions. Interfaith is both introverted (individuals seeking clarity in their own befuddled beliefs) and extroverted (sharing faith with others). But it is personally rigorous; individuals are self responsible for their involvement, understanding that interfaith cannot be fully experienced with closed heart, with a closed mind.
Over the course of the semester, my interest in the program became more and more self-obsessed and eventually morphed into the most contradictory program possible: an urban interfaith monastery. Providing a place for truth seekers to meet, rest, and explore their beliefs in diverse community, the monastery provides a temporary retreat and emphasizes both the individual and communal aspects of interfaith.
Shielded from the main road, one must enter through the garden on the side street. The first floor is public, open, the most programmatically inviting and uninvolved. The ground floor provides a holistic summary of an interfaith center: garden, sanctuary, gallery, dining, and gathering spaces.
Progression into the rest of the building, where the spiritual spaces lie, is intentional. A ceremonial staircase (the so-called “stairway to heaven”), is visible from the entry and framed with light, offering the primary point of access to the second and third floors.
The second floor, at first contradictorily, is the most private and the only floor with continuous circulation. While the “stairway to heaven” continues immediately to the top floor, traversing the second floor prepares the heart and mind: study space leads to private prayer cells, which leads to the chapel for collective prayer. The Chapel (Chant Hall) opens back onto the study space. Visitors (the Monks) may continue to circulate through these preparatory spaces until their desired path is decided upon and they are ready to continue.
From the second floor two paths (paths to enlightenment?) are made available: group or individual. The Stairway to Heaven continues into the large gathering hall, a brilliantly lit, tall space. The Heaven Hall functions as a large ceremonial space: while not the most overtly spiritual, it is the gathering place for meetings and functions of all sizes.
The secondary stack nestled between quiet study space and private monk cells leads instead to the next steps in individual spiritual development: counseling and yoga / meditation.
No comments:
Post a Comment